


Role Reversal

by starrnobella



Series: Care for a Drink? [4]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Chardonnay, Draco's Den's A Slytherin Walks Into A Pub Fic-A-Thon, Gen, In Vino Veritas, Wizarding Crossover Connection's Cast the Dice 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:01:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26113819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrnobella/pseuds/starrnobella
Summary: Usually it's the bartender who gives out the advice. This time it's the customer who is experiencing the wonderful power of wine is that it will allow you to speak your mind. Sometimes the words that one person expresses is exactly what someone else needed to hear.
Relationships: Astoria Greengrass & Penelope Garcia
Series: Care for a Drink? [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1464733
Kudos: 7
Collections: A Slytherin Walks Into A Pub, Cast the Dice 2020





	Role Reversal

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was written for my 4 of a Kind score in Wizarding Crossover Connection's #CastTheDice20 event for the trope In Vino Veritas. My characters were prompted by my first prompt from Draco's Den's #SlytherinInAPub event as well.
> 
> Beta work was done by Grammarly.
> 
> Be sure to let me know what you think!
> 
> Love always,  
> ~starr

"I hate profilers," Penelope Garcia huffed as she collapsed onto the stool next to the bar and placed her purse down next to her. She leaned forward and rested her elbows against the bar, cradling her head in her hands.

The team wouldn't be back in Quantico until some time tomorrow morning, which meant Penelope had a few hours to get her wits about her after such an emotional case. Hotch and the team spent the better part of two weeks tracking down a serial rapist tormenting a small town in the Midwest.

"If you hate profilers, you've come to the wrong bar," the bartender joked, stepping in front of her, reaching for a glass. "There's a group of them that tend to frequent this place after a big case."

"I know," Penelope replied, chuckling softly as she shook her head. "I usually come with them because I work with them."

"Oh," the bartender laughed, smiling awkwardly. "That's right. You do look familiar. I'm still getting used to faces."

"That's okay," Penelope assured her. "No one expects you to know everyone."

"I like getting to know the regulars," she replied, reaching out a hand, "I'm Astoria. What's your name, and what can I get you to drink?"

"Penelope Garica," she replied, taking the hand extended to her. "I'd love a glass of chardonnay. What brings you to Quantico, Astoria?"

Astoria smiled as she reached for the bottle of chardonnay from the cooler beneath the bar, pulling it out and placing it in front of her. She quickly spun around and grabbed a wine glass off the rack. She popped the cork out of the bottle and poured a glass.

"It's a long story," she said with a laugh, placing the glass of wine in front of Penelope. Astoria leaned back against the counter behind the bar and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before crossing her arms over her chest.

Penelope wrapped her hand around the wine glass and lifted it to her lips as she took a sip. "I've got time," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Besides, I've been told I'm a pretty good listener."

Astoria chuckled to herself. "Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

"Who says that the patrons at the bar are the only ones dealing with things?" Penelope said, taking another sip of her wine.

"You aren't wrong there," Astoria replied, leaning her head back as she took a deep breath. "I moved to Quantico about six months ago, after my divorce was finalized."

"Running away from a bad marriage," Penelope mused, nodding her head as she continued to enjoy her wine.

"Draco wasn't a bad guy to be married to," Astoria insisted. "We just weren't right for each other. After a few months, I realized it wasn't me who he was in love with."

Penelope lifted her eyebrows as she finished off the last of her wine. "He was in love with another woman?" she asked, placing the empty glass down on the bar.

Astoria shook her head and reached for the bottle of chardonnay to refill Penelope's glass. "Not another woman," Astoria chided, biting back the retort she initially thought.

"Oh, I see," Penelope replied, nodding her head slowly. "Well, sweetheart, if you ask me, you got the better end of the deal."

Tossing her head back with a laugh, Astoria couldn't help but smile. "Why do you say that?"

"Because if he were smart, he wouldn't have let you go. But also," Penelope added. "He has to live with who he is now and who he was to his friends and family back in London. You're in a brand new city. You get to start a new life where you don't have to be Astoria anymore if you don't want to be.

"Besides, he was a fool to let you go," she insisted, taking another sip of the wine. As she set it down on the bar, she brushed her thumb along the ridge. "You're gorgeous and smart. Two qualities he's going to have a difficult time finding in another man. I struggle to find both of those qualities in a man. Except for one."

A smirk grew on Penelope's face as she rummaged through her purse, looking for her phone. She frowned when she couldn't find her phone. "I was going to show you a picture of the one man that I have met who matches both of those criteria, but I can't find my phone," she pouted.

"It's okay," Astoria replied, smiling softly. "Maybe you can show me another night. Or get him to come to the bar after work so I can meet him. He might be the man of my dreams."

"He's the man of everyone's dreams, dollface," Penelope replied, reaching for her wine once more.

Astoria thought about the woman sitting across the bar from her and tilted her head to the side. She had a very valid point. Astoria had been struggling to accept that it was okay for her to start over now that she was living in a new city. After a ten minute conversation with a random stranger sitting at her bar, she felt like she was ready to take on the world. "Thank you," Astoria said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the bar.

"For what?" Penelope replied, furrowing her brow.

"Reminding me that it's okay not to have my life put together and that I'm better off than I was six months ago struggling to make ends meet," Astoria said, smiling broadly. "The wine is on the house tonight."

"You don't have to do that," Penelope insisted. "I don't mind paying for the wine."

"I know I don't," Astoria replied, flashing her a bright smile. "I want to because you didn't have to listen to my story tonight. Usually, it's the bartender's job to be the listening ear, then go home and deal with my problems. Tonight I won't have any problems to take home with me."

"I'm happy to be of service," Penelope replied, returning the smile. As she opened her mouth to say something else, her phone started ringing from inside her purse. "An FBI analyst's job is never done," she hummed, reaching into her bag to pull out her phone.

She took a few steps away from the bar to answer the call, and Astoria just watched her for a few moments. Thanks to one customer looking to be distracted for the night, Astoria found herself donning an unerasable smile for the rest of her shift and well into the night.


End file.
